


The small woman

by gothic_burrito



Series: Accountant x History Student AU [1]
Category: La Passe-Miroir | The Mirror Visitor - Christelle Dabos
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blind Date, F/M, Romance, Thorn POV, Thorn being awkward, accountant and history student AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28962573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gothic_burrito/pseuds/gothic_burrito
Summary: Berenilde sets Thorn up on a blind date and if that isn't already eating away at his patience, then the small woman inspecting herself in his car window - while he is still sitting in it- definitely doesn't help the cause either. Especially when he finds himself unable to stop thinking about her on his way to the date.
Relationships: Berenilde/Farouk, Ophélie/Thorn (La Passe-Miroir)
Series: Accountant x History Student AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125908
Comments: 15
Kudos: 33





	The small woman

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone :)
> 
> I'm writing modern AU Ophelia and Thorn to help me heal the hole in my heart, that the 4th book left.😢  
> Not the smartest thing because I should be doing my Psychology assignment instead but hey... if I fail this class than at least for a good cause😂
> 
> Also, I am aware that this is basically just 2700+ words of self-indulgence. I really just needed an excuse to imagine Thorn shirtless😏

Thorn slammed his car door shut and rested his head against the steering wheel. The hot leather was burning against his forehead and would most likely leave a strange red stripe in its wake. But he for once did not care how silly he would look. His racing thoughts occupied all his senses and he couldn’t do anything except think. The previous conversation with Berenilde was replaying in his head over and over again. She had been pestering him to go out more and date for years. But he had always thought she would eventually give up and leave him be. Well, that estimation was evidently not correct. A blind date- What a strange and absolutely ludicrous idea, even for Berenilde.

_“Ah, there you are Thorn. I was just popping by to tell you some fantastic news!” The blond-haired woman casually twirled one of her impeccable curls on her right forefinger. A habit that indicated that she was pleased with herself, as Thorn very well knew. This could only go badly for him, he thought._

_“Why don’t we go into your office for a moment, hm?” Her bright eyes shone with mirth and excitement. A deadly combination with this woman._

_Thorn stayed silent yet again. He just moves over to open the glass door of his office for his aunt, patiently waiting for her to enter so that he could close it behind her. The urge to get his fob watch out of his pocket got stronger. It was a strange, obsessive habit to constantly want to observe the passing time, he knew. He had adopted it years ago and it seemed like it was only getting worse the older he got._

_“Now darling, won’t you sit down with me for a moment?” Berenilde’s voice cut through the haze of seconds and minutes tumbling through Thorn’s head. He nodded sharply and folded himself into his office chair, opposite his aunt. The solid office desk acting as the only barrier between them. He had no real clue in what direction the conversation was going to go but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was not going to be as pleasant for him as it would be for her._

_“Now my boy, to cut this short because I know what a busy man you are. I simply couldn’t stand by any longer and watch you work yourself into the ground with no other outlet. So I asked around and a close friend of mine – Rosaline, I’m sure you remember her- told me that she has a niece in a very similar situation. So we had the brilliant idea to set you two up on a blind date. I’ve already consulted with Farouk and I know that you are free this evening- “She paused to give her nephew a sharp look, who’s face had just gone even more blank than usual. “No protest young man! She is a lovely little history student and I’m sure you two will get on famously.”_

_Thorn could not resist the urge to check the digital clock at the bottom of his laptop screen, one-hundred-and-eighty seconds. That’s how long it took Berenilde to completely ruin his day._

A shadow passed by Thorn’s window. He initially did not look up from his position but when he realized that the shadow was not moving away, he had to lift his head to investigate. A small woman with voluminous brown curls and square glasses was looking directly into the window of his car. A wave of nausea crashed over his head. Was she watching him? His eyes flickered to the digital clock of his car right in front of him. He’d been in the car for exactly nine-hundred seconds without moving. Did she think he had passed out?

Upon further observation, he realized that she was not looking at him but her own reflection in his window. She was clumsily trying to smooth out her wild mane, which was not cooperating no matter how hard she tried. Thorn had to admit that the situation had some comedic elements to it. Had he been a less serious man he might have started grinning.

He studied her face a bit more closely and came to the astounding conclusion that this woman had something about her. Those big doe eyes drew him in and he was almost tempted to let his gaze move further down her body. The sudden absurdity of the situation hit him with full force and woke him out of his trance-like state. _Why am I staring at this stranger? Hopefully, she hasn’t noticed me yet_. His heart rate doubled at the prospect of being found peering at her like a creep.

Eyes moving from the stranger back to the steering wheel and the clock behind it. Feverishly thinking of a way to escape this ghastly situation. Different solutions entered his head and left it again shortly after. No, no, no. He couldn’t just start the engine. What if he startled her… the same thing applied for too abrupt movements inside the car. He contemplated waiting it out and not move any further before she was gone. But what if other people saw him just plainly staring at her while she was checking her reflection? No, also not acceptable.

In the end, he concluded that no optimal solution existed so he went for the option with the lowest risk of giving the poor girl a heart attack.

He turned the key slightly to start the battery, cautiously making sure that the engine did not start as well. His other hand moved to the button that lowered the windows on the inside of his door. He pushed it down carefully and the glass screen that had separated the two slowly retracted back into the door of Thorn’s car. The glass was gone, the reflection as well.

Thorn noticed the stranger flinching, instinctively putting a hand on the strap of her bag and taking a step back. _Approximately thirty centimeters_. _She must have small feet. Makes sense with her petite physic._

Embarrassment shimmered in her big eyes. “I’m sorry, I did not realize someone was sitting in the car.” Her tiny voice did not carry far but Thorn managed to catch her words nonetheless _. So small, so fragile._

He had to directly stop his brain from shutting down. No one had ever had this effect on him before. He felt the overbearing need to reassure and protect her. But being the socially awkward brick that he was, he had no idea how to ease her worries. Suddenly he was keenly aware of the red stripe from the steering wheel that was surely still imprinted onto his forehead. _What a lousy first impression._

Thorn cleared his voice and reigned his facial features back into a neutral state. It surprised him that she was still standing there, looking at him, despite him not having said anything in return yet. Almost sixty seconds had passed and all he had done was stare at her.

“It’s ok. I… I was just about to start the engine and did not want to scare you. You seemed lost in thought.” The dry delivery of an accountant did not make this statement sound even remotely as polite as Thorn had intended it to. She didn’t seem to mind. She nodded politely and turned around to walk past his car.

Thorn had to take another moment to collect his thoughts. What a strange situation. He checked the time again and realized that he had precisely seven-thousand-and-two-hundred seconds until his inevitable blind date. Reluctantly, he turned the key all the way and pulled out of the car park. The way home was short and he knew that he would not need more than one thousand-and-eight-hundred seconds to make himself presentable for the date itself.

Berenilde had chosen a rather casual restaurant so technical there was no need for fancy clothing. Thorn however preferred to always be dressed smartly. He did not even own t-shirts or jeans. Even if a two-piece suit was only reserved for work occasions, outside of that he was still sporting a freshly ironed white shirt and dress pants.

He pulled into his driveway and hurried inside, mentally going through the list of things he had to do before he could leave for the date.

Firstly shower, including shaving. Admittedly he had already shaved that morning but he did not want to run the risk of having missed a few hairs. Even though he knew that that was almost impossible with his meticulous shaving routine and eye for detail.

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips. Eyes the color of steel scrutinizing his frame and making note of every single scar on his scrawny body. Fifty-six in total. Thorn turned his gaze and moved on to his bedroom, where he had already laid out the clothes he wanted to wear.

The shirt he had picked seemed to have a few small wrinkles by closer inspection so he opted for only putting on the dress pants for now and got out the ironing board. A few wet strands of blond hair fell into his eyes while he was busy decimating every single imperfection on the surface of the crisp white fabric. He moved them out of his vision, careful as to not accidentally splash water on the shirt.

He turned his head to look at the wall clock. For-thousand-two-hundred-and-eighty-five seconds left.

It would take him a considerable time to get to the location and also find a parking spot. So that left him with two-thousand-and forty-two seconds to be otherwise productive.

Despite fighting it, the young accountant could not help but think back on the brief interaction with the small woman in the car park next to the office he worked at. The building was wedged in between a mall and an apartment complex. So what was she doing there? Did she live there? He had never seen her before so maybe she was on her way to or from the mall? She did have a relatively large brown bag with her… Thorn shook his head to clear his thoughts. It did not matter what she was doing. He would most likely never see her again.

He checked the time again, one-thousand-four-hundred-and-eight seconds remaining. He turned away from the window he had been staring out of with a low grunt and busied himself by going through work emails on his phone. His boss had a hard time sticking to office hours when it came to consulting his accountant on the whereabouts of his company. And indeed, there were two unread emails from him sitting in his inbox. The first one was the standard reminder of the monthly meeting with the management board that was going to take place the next day. As if he had ever forgotten an appointment in his life…

The other one was unusual. Thorn knew that ever since Farouk had started dating his aunt Berenilde he was trying to establish a more familiar atmosphere between them. But a mail wishing him luck on his blind date. That was crossing several lines in Thorn's books. A vein on his neck started pulsating as he reread the email. Not only was it unprofessional but Berenilde had told him that she had confided in him beforehand to make sure Thorn had the evening off for good. And if Thorn hated one thing than it was conspiracies.

He breathed deeply through his nose and counted to calm himself down. One, two, three, four, five…

He did not want to think about this date. The whole topic of romance was entirely foreign to him and he had intended to keep it like that. In fact, before the incident in the car earlier, had he never even thought about the physical appearance of anyone around him. He doubted this niece of a friend of Berenilde would make an exception there. He could already see it before his inner eye. Light hair, light eyes, head over heels in love with herself. That was the typical kind of woman Berenilde recommended to him. He felt like she was projecting a bit on that aspect.

But he also knew that he could not decline the offer or even cancel the date directly. He had always been weaker than his aunt in willpower. She was a true force of nature and the smallest refusal would get her in the worst of states. Farouk would certainly not thank Thorn if he managed to sour the mood of his girlfriend by refusing to take part in her set up.

Another look towards the clock told him that he had been deeper in thought than he had initially thought. It was almost time to leave. Four-hundred seconds left.

He rushed over to the coat rack in the hallway and got a light overcoat off of a hanger, only to fold it neatly over his left arm. It might be the dead of summer but the weather could be unpredictable at night and he wanted to be prepared for every situation.

The obligatory last look in the mirror followed and he made sure that his hair was all neatly combed back and his goatee was trimmed to perfection. Two-hundred-sixty seconds left.

A message on his phone distracted him for a brief moment. Just Berenilde telling him to be civil and try to make conversation. He texted a thumbs up emoji back and rolled his eyes. She was getting on his nerves decidedly more than usual and not only because she arranged this purgato- blind date. Ninety-four seconds left until he had to leave.

The setting sun hit him square in the face when he opened his front door and forced him to squint. It was a lovely summer evening, but Thorn could not stop thinking how it was tarnished by the fact that he had to spend it in unfamiliar company. He knew how cynical that type of thinking was but he was turning more and more into a hermit, the more time he spent with inventory lists and balance sheets. And he was at peace with that. He was not fit for social life anyway. Never had been.

Thorn tried to purge his mind of any remaining thoughts on the small woman from earlier. He realized that he was still thinking about her and that would prove to be extremely distracting while trying to converse with another woman.

The drive flew by faster than he had anticipated and so the blond was confronted with reality sooner than he had prepared for. The small Italian restaurant was already in sight and an open parking spot was also easily found. It was at that moment, that he realized that he had no idea what his date looked like. Yes, he had his assumptions but that was still no guarantee that he would find the right woman straight away. She would surely not be wearing a neon sign saying “Thorn’s date”.

He got out of the car anyway. What did it even matter? And if he didn’t find her, the better for him.

The shock of looking towards the entrance of the restaurant and finding the small woman from earlier almost knocked him off his feet. He had just willed himself to stop thinking of her and now here she was. With her also in the room, there was no way he would be able to hold a conversation with his date. His emotions must have shown on his face for a moment because she noticed him and gave him a reluctant look. As if she was contemplating if she should greet him or not.

He wanted to vanish. This truly had to be one of the worst days of his life.

Just as he was managing his composure and trying to look out for his date, a small voice now very close spoke to him.

“I’m very sorry Sir but, I was wondering if you happen to be Berenilde’s nephew.”

The blood froze in his veins. He knew that the voice belonged to the woman which had inspected her unruly hair in his car window earlier. The one which was standing next to him right now. Accentuating their impressive height difference by looking up to him with her big doe eyes, full of embarrassment and curiosity.

“Indeed.”

She was his date.

**Author's Note:**

> The fact that I had to put a calculator next to my laptop to write this... I tried to orientate myself on the two chapters Christelle Dabos wrote from his perspective in book 4. But I have to admit, I might be an economics major but I am absolutely not the biggest fan of numbers, and incorporating them in my writing seems weird somehow😅
> 
> Would be down to write the actual date or even Ophelia's POV in the future tho :)


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